Ravinder Singh Bhalla (born January 13, 1974), often simply called Ravi Bhalla, is an American civil rights lawyer, politician, the 39th and current mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey. Prior to becoming mayor, he served in the city council of Hoboken, New Jersey, since 2009. On November 7, 2017, he was elected New Jersey's first

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

mayor, as well as the first elected mayor in the United States who is a Sikh and wears a turban.Ravinder Bhalla becomes first Sikh mayor of Hoboken city in US
. '' Times of India''. November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.Baer, Marilyn (October 22, 2017).
Profiles: Three of six mayoral candidates: Get to know Bhalla, Giattino, and Bautista
. '' The Hudson Reporter''. October 22, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.Park, Madison (November 8, 2017).
Election night brings historic wins for minority and LGBT candidates
. '' CNN''. November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.Trans politician and Sikh mayor among diverse politicians chosen in US elections
. BBC News. November 8, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017.

Early life

Ravinder Singh Bhalla was born in

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...

,Sohrabji, Sunita (3 April 2009). "Ravinder Bhalla Runs for Hoboken City Council". ''India-West''

San Leandro, California San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sou ...

). p. A26. and raised in Woodland Park (then called West Paterson.) His parents, Ranbir and Harminder Singh, live in Montville, New Jersey, where they own and manage a company that manufactures

high-pressure sodium A sodium-vapor lamp is a gas-discharge lamp that uses sodium in an excited state to produce light at a characteristic wavelength near 589 nm. Two varieties of such lamps exist: low pressure and high pressure. Low-pressure sodium lamps are ...

street lamps that Ranbir Singh, a physicist, invented himself.Sohrabji, Sunita (26 June 2009). "Hoboken Gets First Sikh City Councilman". ''India-West'' (San Leandro, California). p. A29. Bhalla earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political psychology from University of California, Berkeley, a master's degree in public administration and public policy from the London School of Economics, and earned his

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans.About Ravi
. ''Ravi Bhalla for Hoboken Mayor''. 2017. Retrieved November 10, 2017.

Career

Legal practice

George Floyd protest in Hoboken, NJ - June 5, 2020 - 5530

Bhalla was a civil rights attorney at the law firm of Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Fader, who have represented NJ Transit.Attorneys
. ''Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Fader, LLC''. Retrieved November 10, 2017.Venugopal, Arun. "Community concerns discussed at SAALT talks". ''India Abroad'' (New York, New York). April 15, 2005. p. C6. In a case in 2002, Bhalla represented three high school students at Hunterdon Central High School in Flemington, New Jersey. The high school had implemented a policy of random drug-testing of students participating in any extracurricular activities or who have a parking permit, and the three students filed a lawsuit in New Jersey State Court alleging the school's drug-testing policy violated their rights according to the

New Jersey Constitution The Constitution of the State of New Jersey is the basic governing document of the State of New Jersey. In addition to three British Royal Charters issued for East Jersey, West Jersey and united New Jersey while they were still colonies, the sta ...

.Slack, Donovan (June 28, 2002). "Experts: Garden State case may carry more weight". ''The Times'' (Trenton, New Jersey). p. A1. The New Jersey state court ruled that the random drug-testing was allowable under the state constitution, pointing to a similar case ruling by a federal court. Bhalla said he disagreed with the state court's ruling, saying that the New Jersey Constitution gives a wider protection against unreasonable search and seizure than the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

. In a case in 2003, Bhalla represented Amric Singh Rathour. Rathour had qualified for a job in traffic enforcement with the

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

. Rathour's supervisors fired Rathour because he would not shave his beard or stop wearing his turban, both of which are required by Rathour's religion, Sikhism. On behalf of his client, Bhalla filed a lawsuit in United States District Court for religious discrimination."Sikh alleges discrimination by NYPD". ''The Statesman'' (India). March 5, 2003. Bhalla wrote an amicus curae for the federal court case of married couple Harpal Singh Cheema and Rajwinder Kaur. Cheema had been brutally and repeatedly tortured by Indian police for protesting the Indian government and for giving food and shelter to protesters. Cheema and Kaur had been allowed to enter the U.S. for humanitarian reasons. Their asylum application was later disapproved, and they were trying to fight that decision so they could remain in the U.S. Cheema lost his appeal and was deported to India, where he was arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport. In another case, Bhalla represented Gurpreet S. Kherha. A car dealership in Little Falls, New Jersey, refused to employ Kherha because of its policy of prohibiting beards. Kherha's religion, Sikhism, forbids him from shaving his beard. Bhalla filed a religious discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a lawsuit in New Jersey State Court, stating that the car dealership had violated Kherha's civil rights by refusing him reasonable religious accommodation. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined that Kherha had indeed suffered religious discrimination, and the parties settled the case.Joseph, George (6 December 2013). "Sikh man gets $50,000 damages in religious discrimination case". ''India Abroad'' (New York, New York). p. A10.

Politics

Bhalla ran for an

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

seat on the Hoboken City Council in 2009 on incumbent mayor

Dawn Zimmer Dawn Zimmer (born April 16, 1968) is an American politician who served as the 38th mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey. As president of the Hoboken City Council, she became acting mayor after incumbent Peter Cammarano's resignation on July 31, 2009 fol ...

's ticket. During Bhalla's campaign, he emphasized fiscal responsibility, slowing down development, increasing the amount of affordable housing, lower city property taxes, and transparency in government. In the election, Bhalla received 13% of the vote, advancing to a runoff election. In the runoff election, Bhalla received 17% of the vote, winning an at-large seat on the Hoboken City Council for a four-year term in office. He was sworn in on July 1, 2009.Baldwin, Carly (July 1, 2009). "Hoboken". ''The Jersey Journal'' (Jersey City, New Jersey). p. A4. Bhalla served as the chairman of the Hoboken Democratic Party from 2010 to 2011. He also served as vice president of the council between 2010 and 2011, and he served as president of the city council from 2011 to 2012.Joseph, George (15 November 2013), but lost subsequent re-election attempts for city counsel president. "Hoboken Councilman Ravinder Bhalla to sue colleague Beth Mason". ''India Abroad'' (New York, New York). p. A8.

In 2011, Bhalla ran to represent the 33rd Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly. During his campaign, Bhalla emphasized that New Jersey had the highest property taxes in the country, and he advocated for lowering property taxes, offset by an increase to state income taxes. Bhalla focused on creating jobs and strengthening New Jersey's hate crime laws. Bhalla opposed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's $1.3-billion cuts in the state's education budget. Bhalla called himself an Independent Democrat.Sohrabji, Sunita (27 May 2011). "Hoboken City Councilman Bhalla Runs for State Assembly". ''India-West'' (San Leandro, California). p. A10. Bhalla was defeated in the Democratic primary election, coming in third place, but he has stated that he still has political aspirations to be a legislator at the state or Federal level.Sohrabji, Sunita (17 June 2011). "Ravinder Bhalla Loses Bid for New Jersey Assembly Seat". ''India-West'' (San Leandro, California). p. A10, A12. In 2012, following Superstorm Sandy, Bhalla distributed food to people at multiple locations in Hoboken.Sohrabji, Sunita (9 November 2012). "Superstorm Sandy Decimates Homes, Businesses in Its Path". ''India-West'' (San Leandro, California). p. A2, A4. Bhalla filed to run again to represent the 33rd District in the New Jersey General Assembly in 2013.Hack, Charles (April 24, 2013).
Hoboken Councilman Bhalla confirms run for state Assembly
. ''The Jersey Journal'' (Jersey City, New Jersey). nj.com. The following month, Bhalla withdrew from the election when Carmelo Garcia's candidacy was cleared.Hack, Charles (May 8, 2013).

. ''The Jersey Journal'' (Jersey City, New Jersey). nj.com. Instead Bhalla ran for reelection to the Hoboken City Council."Ravi Bhalla Runs for Reelection to Hoboken, N.J., Council". ''India-West'' (San Leandro, California). October 18, 2013. p. A18. Bhalla received 14% of the vote, giving him a second four-year term in office. In 2017, Bhalla decided to run for a third term on the Hoboken City Council."Hoboken Councilman Bhalla Raises Funds for Third Term". ''India-West'' (San Leandro, California). April 21, 2017. p. A22. When incumbent Hoboken Mayor

decided not to run for reelection, she endorsed Bhalla in a surprise press conference.Sohrabi, Sunita (14 July 2017). "An Unexpected Run for Hoboken Mayor". ''India-West'' (San Leandro, California). p. A3, A14. During Bhalla's mayoral campaign, he advocated for response development, open-space initiatives, defending Hoboken's citizens' rights from the Trump administration, fiscal responsibility, holding the line on local taxes, and building a surplus for unanticipated city emergencies. Bhalla won the election with 33% of the vote. His term of office began January 1, 2018. In 2021 Bhalla ran unopposed for a second term.

Controversies

In 2018, Bhalla was censured by the New Jersey Supreme Court after a disciplinary board chided him for not setting aside over $6,000 for a former employee's retirement account between 2008 and 2009.

Personal life

Bhalla has lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, since 2000. He and his wife, Navneet (also known as Bindya), a human rights attorney, live with their children, Arza and Shabegh.

Electoral results

2009

2011

2013

2017

2021

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhalla, Ravinder Singh Alumni of the London School of Economics American mayors of Indian descent American politicians of Indian descent Asian-American people in New Jersey politics American Sikhs Living people Mayors of Hoboken, New Jersey New Jersey Democrats Politicians from Passaic, New Jersey Tulane University Law School alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni 1974 births